When Bond returns to Q-branch, there's a bit of a flurry of activity, some of the minions moving across the center aisle to the other side in order to share or spread information, bringing things back to their own desks after chatting a bit. And in the center of all this buzz is Q standing at his desk in the front, tapping away at his keyboard as he watches the satellite images, calm and collected as always, two screens having lines of code that are continuously moving displayed there.
"Yes. Right. Well, that's their mistake, then." Q says with some smug satisfaction in his tone. "Turn right in ten feet, there will be an electronically locked door which will be open in three.. two.. one.. there we are. Through the door is a control room, there will be a computer directly to your left. There should be an open USB port in which you can use to plug in the drive I provided you with the kit. After you've done that, a window will pop up on the screen, just hit the OK button and let it do its thing. On the opposite wall from that computer is a bank of servers. There should be a... yellow wire, left hanging unplugged, but near something that should be compatible. Be a good boy and plug that back in for me." He says in a bored, somewhat condescending tone, swaying a little but making it look like a natural shifting of his stance before he continues.
"Lovely. Right, I am connecting now... you can remove the USB drive, no need to leave our evidence there." Q says thoughtfully as he continues guiding the agent. "Back out you pop, the way you came should be clear. I'm going to hand you over to R now, 005. Q signing off." He says before he removes the headset from his ear, sighing in relief. "R, make sure that the download continues, and that the virus gets planted afterwards, everything is ready for you to upload. Just a click away." he says with a soft, almost tired smile before he stretches his arms above his head, then leans forward on his desk as he gets a little bit dizzy, shaking his head slowly for a moment.
Having stayed out of the way and inconspicuous as he can be while things were being taken care of, when Bond sees the younger man sway a little, he moves forward with the take away bag he brought for Q. He makes it to the Omega's side just as he starts to tilt sideways, catching him around his slim waist and pulling him upright. "Let me guess, you've not eaten today." he says in a disapproving tone as he keeps one arm around the other's waist to hold him upright and close to his side for a few moments longer. More than a few of the minions are staring at them in shock, since none of them would ever be bold enough to touch their Quartermaster.
Blinking slowly at the agent after he is righted, Q shakes his head slowly, and looks down a little, feeling a little ashamed to have to admit this. "No.. I didn't have time for breakfast before I had to be in.." he says in a guilty tone, before he realizes where they are, exactly, and he clears his throat, straightening a little to move away from Bond. "Luckily, now I have a bit of a break, and will be fixing that oversight." He says in a stronger tone, adjusting his glasses before he picks up his Scrabble mug to head toward the small room where they have put a kettle and a few other kitchenette necessities.
Bond smirks a little as he lets Q get away, following him toward the kitchenette. "Yes, you will." he says, placing the take away bag on the counter in front of him. "Eve and I decided you would probably be hungry." he says before he adds, "And I won't be leaving until I'm sure you're left alone long enough to eat it. You're far too skinny to be missing meals." he says as he looks Q over slowly.
For a few moments Q stares at the bag after putting the kettle on. "Oh. Thank you." he says before he sighs a little. "I don't need anyone to stand over me like I'm in some bloody prison." he says quietly, though inside he's thrilled to know that Bond cared, even just a little, about his welfare, that any Alpha has taken an interest in him. Quickly, he gets his tea together, avoiding looking at the blond as he does, but he picks up the bag with his tea as well to head back to his small office which appears to be very disorganized, folders piled up on both sides of his desk, and beside the desk as well. Moving a few of the folders from the table to the floor, Q finally sits down and starts to open the bag, blinking at the food inside since there is much more than he was expecting.
Not one to be put off that easily, Bond follows the younger man into his office, and he closes the door behind him, a clear sign to anyone else that the Quartermaster is to be left alone. "Too busy for administrative work, are you?" he asks curiously as he looks at the younger man, moving some files so that he can sit down in one of the chairs.
"I have no filing cabinets yet, and I have been rather busy for the last few months." Q says a little defensively as he looks down at his desk for a moment, opening the food and starting to eat slowly, trying not to scarf anything down, especially since Bond is watching him. "If certain double-ohs would stop getting themselves in trouble, perhaps I would have a little more time." He says as he looks up at Bond pointedly, adjusting his glasses again before he goes back to eating, pulling one leg up under the other on his chair, allowing himself to relax a little.
Not taking his eyes off the young Omega, Bond crosses his legs and sits back in his chair. "I see. Well, we wouldn't be doing very well without our Quartermaster, would we?" he asks as he watches Q. "I suppose that is worth a little unfinished paperwork." he notes thoughtfully as he looks around at the piles of folders. "You seem to enjoy your position."
Looking up at the agent suspiciously, Q nods slowly. "I do." he says simply, then adds, "I knew most everyone in the department before, so it was an easy transition in that sense. However, apparently a few of you double-ohs have issues taking orders from someone who is a little bit younger than you. Though I don't know why, I'm only a few years younger than the youngest of you." He points out, a little frustrated. "Of course, several of them also take exception to the fact that I'm an Omega. The kind of sexism that I thought was long gone. Seems a lot of you double-ohs are somewhat old fashions. I suppose it goes against your instincts to take orders from an Omega." He says with a slightly annoyed tone.
"A little." James says with a nod of his head. "If you recall, I wasn't wild about taking orders from someone as young as you, either. That is, until I learned how bloody brilliant you are. If a bit arrogant." He says as he continues to watch Q. "But that's not all there is to you.. there's more, and I want to know what it is." he says honestly as he looks at the other man, wanting to get him away from here and away from work, see if that makes any difference. He wants to see where the brunette lives, to see that he's taking care of himself, finding himself very worried about the younger man. "You'll prove yourself to the double-ohs. Don't let them rattle you." he reassures gently.
Q looks up at Bond, staring for a moment before he finishes off his meal and sips at his tea, sitting back in his chair and pulling his second leg up onto the chair with him, curling up in it a bit. "Oh, I won't. Just bloody annoying." He says before sighing and running a hand through his hair, closing his eyes for a few moments as the stresses of the day already are catching up to him. After a moment though, he takes a sharp breath and opens his eyes quickly, as if afraid that he might have fallen asleep. "Thank you for the food, 007." he says quietly, stretching his arms out in front of him and dumping the empty take away containers in the trash. "However, I am sure you have Medical to report to, and as you can see, I have more than enough to keep me occupied." He says as he motions to the folders in front of him.
Reluctant to leave Q just yet, but feeling better now that he's seen him have a proper meal, James nods a little and smirks. "Well then. You've seen through my rouse. I can no longer escape the dreaded medical exams." he says before he stands smoothly, buttoning the front of his jacket casually. "Until later, Q." he says before he turns and opens the door, closing it halfway to give the younger man a little more privacy. Nodding to R on his way out with a slightly amused smile, the double-oh starts making plans to make sure Q is looked after. If he were in a different job he might even consider trying to court him to an extent, but he knows that's not possible or practical given his job. Or at least that's what he convinces himself.
Oh, these two. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, there is plenty more to come, I hope to make this sort of a longer story but I don't know. I'm more of a play-by-ear type person, which, if you've ready anything else of mine I'm sure you know. :) Thanks for your interest so far!
Reviews/Comments welcome! (and encouraged :) )